Tornado

Mirjam Swanson LA CANADA HIGH -- Even a coach as obviously demanding as Hoover's Mark Rubio had little trouble finding the silver lining in his team's semifinal loss to Pasadena Poly in the La Canada Holiday Tournament on Wednesday. After a valiant late-match rally to tie the score, 2-2, the Tornadoes lost on penalty kicks, 4-3. "It's good to see we stayed in it and that we were able to fight to come back," Rubio said. Indeed, even after everything started slipping out of Hoover's favor, the Tornadoes kept at it. Seemingly hoping against hope, because the setbacks just kept piling on. There were disputable calls that went against Hoover.

Hamlet Nalbandyan NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- The great plays were there for the Hoover High softball team. Michelle Summers making a sprawling catch to take away a hit at short. Daisy Barcena going from first to third on a sacrifice bunt. Xiomara Ferretti taking away extra bases in left, thanks to an over-the-shoulder catch on the dead run. But then there were the not-so-great plays Tuesday that had Tornado Coach Kirt Kohlmeier slamming his clipboard against the dugout fence.

A season ago, the Hoover High baseball team again proved it was a contender in the Pacific League. It defeated Arcadia once and took the season series from league champion Crescenta Valley. The biggest problem came as it lost a game to archrival Glendale and had struggles with Pasadena. This year, Coach Jim Delzell and company believe they can again contend with the league hierarchy. To truly do that, they must learn not to overlook the rest of the league. "That's always been our problem.

High school basketball fans will have plenty to look forward to Saturday. Like it was written in this space last week, the much-anticipated third annual McDonald's Invitational will be starting at 10 a.m. at Pasadena City College. The one-day event will feature some of the best boys' basketball teams in Southern California, including Santa Ana Mater Dei and L.A. Loyola, not to mention the intriguing matchup between local rivals La Canada and Crescenta Valley at 7:25 p.m. But there is something else newsworthy happening on the same day featuring a local boys' squad, and it's something many of you might not have been familiar with.

Peter Fuertes HOOVER HIGH -- When the Hoover High boys' basketball team walked off Ayala High's court after being eliminated from the CIF Southern Section Division IAA postseason in 1997 in a 70-51 loss, then-freshman Kris Rubio figured it was just the first of a string of postseasons. After all, though the Tornadoes were graduating center Andrew Russell, they were still stacked in the middle. Mark Hull was going to be a senior that season, and Zareh Avedian would add depth in the pivot as well.

Peter Samore NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Rob Swartz and the Hoover High football coaching staff have discovered that there is strength in numbers. Not much building and winning can be done with only a few dozen players, and the Tornado coaches have catered to this basic need. So Swartz and the coaches put all egos aside and set out to bring in the best athletes the school could offer. By mid-August, Hoover had 110 kids out for football. To meet this new need, the Tornado program created a third squad.

Hoover-Pasadena girls' soccer story.Soccer: Hoover leads by a goal early on before giving up three unanswered goals in 4-2 loss to visiting Pasadena.NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- It's an arduous task to judge the start of Hoover High's girls' soccer team's Pacific League season. For a Tornado team that has already matched last season's win total, it continued to show progress on the field. But for a Hoover squad that has an ultimate goal of reaching the playoffs this season, it was a setback.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE ? Friday was not a good day to be a pitcher, especially a Glendale High pitcher. On a day when the Nitro bats collected 11 hits off Tornado ace Chase Doremus, their hurlers were no match for Hoover's steady lineup in a Pacific League game at Glendale High's Harvey Field. Hoover finished with a season-best 17 hits and had eight players drive in runs in the contest, which it won convincingly, 12-5. One through nine through the Tornado batting order, someone did something to get into the box score, which pleased Coach Jim Delzell.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan Christian Hong would have been proud of his players in Tuesday's Pacific League match. The Hoover High girls' volleyball team played its third match without Hong, its head coach who is not likely to return this season after his 4-month daughter, Katherine Emma, died Sept. 29 of sudden infant death syndrome. "This win is for Coach Hong," Tornado senior outside hitter Lourdes Loyola said after Hoover pulled out a thrilling 23-25, 27-25, 25-21, 27-25 home victory against Crescenta Valley.

Mirjam Swanson VERDUGO PARK -- Slightly chaotic. Almost too close to call. Definitely exhausting -- for everyone except for the winner of the girls' varsity race, that is. On an overcast Thursday perfect for cross country, runners from Hoover, Crescenta Valley, Glendale, Muir, Pasadena and Arcadia highs convened at Verdugo Park for the first Pacific League meet of the season, which the Tornado boys and Falcon girls...

GLENDALE - Trailing by three runs to Burroughs High, the Hoover baseball team was looking for something to ignite it late in Friday's Pacific League game. That spark might just have come in the form of a defensive play. In the top of the sixth inning with Burroughs at bat, the Tornadoes got out of the frame on a double play that ended with an Indians runner being thrown out at home after a fly to right field. PHOTOS: Hoover comeback results in 4-3 victory over Burroughs Using the play as motivation, Hoover came back and tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and eventually won the contest on a walk-off suicide squeeze in the eighth inning to complete a 4-3 comeback against visiting Burroughs.

GLENDALE - Scoring runs hasn't come easy as of late for the Glendale High baseball team. It's something Glendale first-year Coach Alan Eberhart had running through his mind Friday, leading up to the first of two season matchups against cross-town rival Hoover. If the Nitros had a quality scoring opportunity, Eberhart said he would not hesitate to send a runner home on a close play at the plate. The situation came to fruition Friday and Eberhart's gamble paid off for Glendale in a 1-0 Pacific League victory.

LA CRESCENTA - In a matchup that would loom large in the Pacific League boys' tennis standings, the biggest keys in Friday afternoon's matchup between host Crescenta Valley High and Hoover came down to doubles and, plain and simple, one team being prepared to play and the other being just the opposite. “We were prepared this time,” said Falcons Coach Sam Hyun following his team's 12-6 league win over the Tornadoes. “I talked to them in practice about being mentally prepared and ready to play.

GLENDALE - Instead of collecting the Bronze Bowl and gathering with it at midfield for a postmeet celebration, the members of the Glendale High boys' and girls' track and field teams opted for something a bit different. Shortly after the Nitros picked up the shiny trophy from the scorer's table, the Nitros took a victory lap around the new all-weather track at Hoover. PHOTOS: Hoover vs. Glendale in league dual track meet There were plenty of participants responsible for Glendale's success, including girls' senior sprinter Kenya Gaskin.

GLENDALE - A pitching duel that could have very easily thrown the Pacific League standings into flux changed in just one-half inning. The Crescenta Valley High baseball team took advantage of some bumpy pitching from visiting Hoover and delivered the game's lone offensive outburst with a six-run fourth inning that led to a 6-0 victory at Stengel Field on Friday evening. The triumph kept the Falcons (12-7, 5-1) in the upper half of the league standings, as Crescenta Valley is tied for second with archrival Arcadia (11-7, 5-1)

LA CRESCENTA - There was no uniform jinx for the Crescenta Valley High boys' volleyball team Friday afternoon, although visiting Hoover certainly made the Falcons downright uncomfortable at times. Crescenta Valley, which had dropped two straight matches along with its standing atop the Pacific League after receiving its new 2014 jerseys, snapped its brief skid with a closer-than-expected 25-21, 25-13, 26-24 victory over the visiting Tornadoes. “I was starting to believe that something was wrong with these uniforms,” Falcons Coach John Nelson quipped after his team's victory.

GLENDALE - The Hoover High baseball team learned something valuable in its game Friday against Arcadia. Hoover, which has been among the lower-positioned teams in the Pacific League in recent years, was not intimidated by Arcadia, which has been a league title contender for decades. In fact, the Tornadoes might just have received a boost in realizing they could play with the Apaches. Despite losing a 6-2 Pacific League contest at home, the Tornadoes walked away from the game encouraged and not at all forlorn.

ARCADIA - Having won its first five games of the season, it appeared the members of the Hoover High softball team had gained plenty of traction. In the first inning of Thursday's Pacific League road contest against Arcadia, the Tornadoes' streak of perfection skidded out of control. Hoover allowed nine runs in the opening inning and suffered a 19-1 defeat in a game called in the fifth inning because of the 10-run mercy rule. “Everybody on the team got a big dose of real softball,” said Hoover Coach Rich Henning, whose team finished with just one hit and dropped to 5-1, 1-1 in league.

GLENDALE - Heading into Wednesday, all but one Pacific League boys' volleyball team had already opened league play, with one squad, Arcadia, having four matches under its belt. Crescenta Valley, however, was waiting and biding its time in anticipation of its league opener. In the meantime, the Falcons had registered an undefeated record, won the San Gabriel Tournament and notched some quality wins. Crescenta Valley finally got the chance to open league play Wednesday afternoon against Hoover, which was taking part in its fourth league matchup.

By Edgar Melik-Stepanyan, Special to the Glendale News-Press | March 25, 2014

GLENDALE - The Hoover High softball team is aware that it will face tough competition once Pacific League play begins in April and opponents like Crescenta Valley High, Burbank and Burroughs line up against the Tornadoes. Until league starts, the Tornadoes will take advantage of teams that are just as young and inexperienced as they are. After scoring 45 runs in their first three games of the season - all wins - the Tornadoes continuing piling on runs in Tuesday's nonleague game against visiting Sacred Heart of Jesus.